UK Pride Doncaster News

Watch this space for all the latest news from UK Pride Doncaster

Yorkshire Adoption Agency
Supporting
LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week 2024

Today is the start of LGBTQ+ fostering and adoption week, a week of celebration of the extraordinary role LGBTQ+ families play in fostering and adoption. Yorkshire Adoption Agency is proud to support the New Family Social campaign to raise awareness of the need for adoptive families for children, especially those from black and other global majority communities. As gold members all our LGBTQ+ families can access free support from New Family Social as well as from ourselves. 

We have seen first-hand the generosity of so many members of the LGBTQ+ community who open their hearts and homes to those children most in need of a family and welcome applications from all members of the LGBTQ+ community, whether single or as part of a couple. 

Scott tells us "Me and my partner adopted two boys through Yorkshire Adoption Agency. As a same-sex couple, the agency was always so welcoming to us and made us feel so comfortable. The adoption process can feel quite intrusive, but our social worker made the whole process such a pleasant experience. We would recommend Yorkshire Adoption Agency to anyone who's looking to adopt no matter what your sexual orientation. Our boys have settled in really nicely with us now and are flourishing. We regularly attend the agency events and it’s really nice for them to have time to play with other kids who are also adopted, some of whom also have same-sex parents." 

Kelvin comments- "We have found the agency very welcoming and professional. We have felt like we have been treated as individuals rather than a number and the support we have received has been great. 

We have always felt that the agency were accepting of our sexual orientation. In all of our dealings with YAA, we have felt like we have been treated as individuals and the fact that we are gay has never seemed like a barrier. Our social worker has been amazing, we have never felt judged, stereotyped or disadvantaged for being gay." 

You can follow Yorkshire Adoption Agency online  

Instagram & Twitter - @y_adopt 

Facebook & LinkedIn – Yorkshire Adoption Agency 

We are available for interview. For more information, please get in touch with Louise Hallam, Marketing & IT Officer, lhallam@yorkshireadoptionagency.org.uk or 01302638337 or 07342 945602

Two Great Hotel Deals
 for
UK Pride Doncaster Weekend

Anyone looking for a hotel for this year's UK Pride Doncaster we have now one but two great deals on hotels with our great supporters Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

Holiday Inn A1 Warmsworth and The Express is located at First Point Business Park close to the City Centre details can be found  by clicking the link below
NEWS

UK Pride Organisers Network Visit February 2024

Two months into the UK Pride Host City Year and the team from Doncaster met with UK Pride Organisers Network representatives for an update meeting.

We discussed the site, the plans and the features that are coming together for the event in August and the rest of the wrap-around campaigns for the Host City Year.

UKPON went away happy that the planning is going well and very excited at the news we shared with them about our plans. All this coming soon as we start to share with you all the amazing things coming your way for 2024.

NEWS

Fundraising Event hosted at The Olde Castle Doncaster

February saw the first of the Fundraising Events hosted in the back bar at The Olde Castle. The event was also the start of the UK Pride Doncaster 2024 announcements beginning with a new host for the City Stage, Matt Jameson.

Performing at The Olde Castle were also three other acts all booked for this year's event. Ken Lambert Drag will be performing on the City Stage which this year is given over to local talent. Every act and performer on the City Stage is connected to Doncaster and part of our showcase of the amazing local talent we have. Ken will also be co-hosting one of the hour-long Cabaret Shows in the later part of the day as we introduce the Cabaret Marquee - a Big Top Stage where there will be three ticketed over 18's shows to choose from - more on that to come.

Also on the Friday night line-up and heading to the Main Stage on Pride Day were NikK Mager and Soraya Vivian. Nikk of Popstars The Rivals and X Factor fame and is known for his time in the boyband Phixx. Soraya is well known to Doncaster Pride goers from her set back in the Gresley Square days and is now UK Pride and Euro Pride Ambassador performing across Europe at prides such as Mas Palomas, Benidorm, Antwerp and Ambassador for Kyiv Pride in The Ukraine.

Further line-up announcements are coming very soon as we move close to announcing the headline act in the coming days.

Check out the photo album from the fundraiser and also here's a link to interviews hosted on the UK Pride Doncaster YouTube site.


Doncaster Pride announces first celebrity association for UK Pride Doncaster

Organisers of Doncaster Pride, UK Pride Host City for 2024, have today given the first of what will be a “series of lineup announcements” all promised in the coming few weeks!

Joining the Doncaster Pride Team as celebrity host, compere and UK Pride Ambassador is none other than Matt Jameson

Matt, most recognisable from his time on ‘Married at First Sight UK’, was one-half of the first same-sex couple to be married on the hit E4 show. 

Since appearing on MAFS UK, Matt has continued to work in broadcasting, as well as being an event host and brand ambassador. He has presented and hosted many large-scale corporate and charity events both in Yorkshire and across the UK. 

Matt is an established and prominent LGBTQ+ campaigner and commentator as well as the Chief Operating Officer for the LGBTQ+ charity; Out Together, which supports older LGBTQ+ people facing social isolation and loneliness. He has also worked in the corporate and charity sector for over 10 years and will be bringing this passion, knowledge, and vast experience to all Pride activities. 

Pride spokesperson said: 

We are thrilled Matt has joined us this year, we know the people of Doncaster will love getting to know him throughout our UK Pride host city year. Matt will become one of the faces of Pride as he’s committed to not just Pride Day on August 10th, but a series of other events and activities planned in the lead-up to the big day. So, watch out… because when you see Matt you’ll know something is coming!

Matt begins his work on 23rd Feb with a fundraising event that announces a few other names on the lineup for the big day and then his next engagement will be March 6th when he will join the UK Pride team again for – well that would be telling!

Follow Matt on Instagram: @matt_d_jameson
Doncaster Pride

Doncaster Pride make New Year announcements as Doncaster becomes the UK Pride Host City for 2024

Now in its eighteenth year the team behind Doncaster Pride has today announced some of the plans for 2024, the year Doncaster has been selected to host the UK Pride Event.

A brand-new website, unveiled at 12 noon on New Year’s Day contained a series of announcements – the biggest of which was the move to Doncaster’s Town Field for the main event taking place on Saturday, August 10th

Following humble beginnings in Doncaster Market Square the event has outgrown various sites including the stadium grounds at Lakeside and Sir Nigel Gresley Square and now the anticipated 20,000-day visitors will be located at a specially erected Pride Site in the heart of Town Field.

Other announcements included a third performance space – so not just the regular two stages, this year the event will feature a seated Cabaret Marquee.

Doncaster Pride is a registered charity and the volunteer team not only plans and delivers the event but raise the thousands of pounds required to do so on an annual basis, much of this business sponsorship and donations.

So, what is UK Pride and why Doncaster?

Chair of the Pride Team Jenny Dewsnap told us:

“There are around 260 volunteer-run pride events like Doncaster in the UK. Every year one is selected to host the national event. It is voted on by other pride organisers, so we feel honoured that our peers selected Doncaster for 2024

It’s not necessarily about it just being bigger, it's about showcasing what we do in Doncaster year in, year out, but with an extra bit of glitter and sparkle!

We will see more visitors to the event in August, but it is our intention to make the most of the year, that’s why we’ve started with a series of announcements on January 1st

One of our most ambitious plans will see the annual Parade featuring representation from every pride in the UK, including near neighbours like Harworth and Bircotes and Mexborough. Others will travel from up and down the UK to be with us for a celebration of the events we all deliver and a chance to acknowledge the work of the thousands of volunteers who do exactly what we do here in Doncaster.”

The announcements also featured information about Doncaster’s first-ever Youth Pride, described as a legacy project linked to UK Pride and the launching of a YouTube Channel that will be used for the whole of 2024 to capture the sights, sounds and flavour of the UK Pride Host City Year that was described as a moment in a timepiece of social history. Organisers also vowed there is much, much more to come and there will be some incredible announcements as the plans unfold through the year.

Jenny concluded:

It's not only great for Doncaster Pride and the LGBTQ+ community, but it’s also great for Doncaster. The event will bring in masses of visitors to spend locally and to see our great city in a positive light. But 2024 is so much more than a day in August, there is a much bigger picture where we hope to use the host city title as a catalyst to a year of change, a year where we all consider the wider impacts of equality, diversity, and inclusion. After all equality isn’t just about the LGBTQ+ community – equality is equality for everyone, no matter what, and it’s that philosophy that sums up Doncaster Pride’s event in August – a place for everyone to just be who they are. Everyone is welcome, everyone is included, everyone can be a part of what will be an enormous year for Doncaster”. 

www.doncasterpride.co.uk
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